Four days before the Maker Festival opened, Zhan Xi had already learned to make three basic flower types — lily of the valley, geranium, and rose buds. Along with the green orchid she learned before, Luo Jingyu felt it was enough.
Before officially starting, Zhan Xi wanted to test her results and needed to find two people who had never done hot-pressed flowers before for a trial experience class. With one phone call, she brought in Luo Xinran and Pipi Xia.
Pipi Xia! When this bearded macho man came to Luo Jingyu’s home, he was completely confused. Knowing he had to do handicrafts, every cell in his body from head to toe, inside and out, was rejecting it. He kept saying, “Let me skip this! Just let Luo Xinran do it. I’m just a rough guy, not cut out for handicrafts!”
Zhan Xi honestly told him, “Actually, 99% of people coming for the experience will be women, but Little Fish and I think that if even you can learn it, then no one else will have trouble learning. Please help us be a guinea pig. After we’re done, we’ll eat here. Little Fish prepared lots of dishes and even bought a king crab!”
Pipi Xia looked at Luo Jingyu, who was organizing materials for the class on the workbench. When their eyes met, Luo Jingyu gave him a slight smile and made a brief hand gesture.
Zhan Xi translated: “Little Fish says it’s very simple, don’t worry, just calm down and try it. Making a flower with your own hands will give you a sense of achievement. Hot-pressed flowers are an art form like singing, not limited by gender. Don’t restrict yourself with fixed thinking.”
Pipi Xia’s mouth twitched: “Zhan Xi, don’t fool me. Little Fish only made a few gestures, how could he say so much?”
Zhan Xi burst out laughing: “Only the first sentence was what he said, I added the rest! Please, please help us.”
Luo Xinran elbowed Pipi Xia: “Why so much nonsense? We agreed before coming. This is Little Fish’s first exhibition, can’t you show some support? When you first performed on stage, you even got a bunch of friends to come as your cheerleaders!”
“…” Pipi Xia compromised, “Fine, I’ll do it. But don’t laugh at me if I do badly! I’ll get angry!”
The trial flower-pressing experience class began.
Half of the workbench had been cleared by Luo Jingyu. He sat at one end of the table, with Luo Xinran and Pipi Xia sitting across from him, and Zhan Xi standing beside Luo Xinran.
Luo Xinran looked up at her: “Aren’t you going to sit?”
“I’m the greeter, I can’t sit,” Zhan Xi said with a grin. “Later I’ll not only have to manage the experience class customers but also watch other visitors. I’ll be very busy!”
“That’s hard work,” Luo Xinran asked Luo Jingyu, “Teacher Little Fish, are you going to pay our Xier a salary since she’s working so hard?”
After reading her lips, Luo Jingyu was startled. He hadn’t considered this issue before. Huanhuan hadn’t taken a single day off in the past half month, working harder than a regular job. So far he had only provided her meals, with no other benefits — she was basically working for free.
Even Zhong Peng and Mo Yang got daily wages for helping him!
Luo Jingyu looked guiltily at Zhan Xi, but she hadn’t realized there was any problem and was still smiling: “Stop dawdling! Let’s get started. I’m going to time it — each class is maximum two hours. We shouldn’t go over time since customers want to try other activities too.”
The other three finally stopped chatting. Luo Jingyu handed out materials and tools to the two, then picked up a string of white lily of the valley with leaves, the flowers looking like tiny light bulbs.
Zhan Xi spoke: “Good afternoon, I’m Teacher Luo’s teaching assistant Xiao Zhan. I’ll help Teacher Luo explain the key points of hot-pressed flowers. Today we’ll learn to make lily of the valley. What you see is the final product, very cute.”
Pipi Xia muttered: “Cute my ass.”
Luo Xinran stepped on his foot. He yelped dramatically, making Luo Jingyu tilt his head and look at him strangely.
He looked back at Zhan Xi. After she finished speaking and gave him a look, Luo Jingyu picked up the pre-cut flower patterns and leaf fabric to show Luo Xinran and Pipi Xia.
Zhan Xi spoke at the same time: “The fabric used for lily of the valley is silk georgette, and the leaves and stems use satin 520. Take a look, they’re already in your hands. The flower and leaf shapes are easy to distinguish.”
Looking at the pile of small white fabric pieces in his hands, Pipi Xia’s face was full of question marks.
Luo Jingyu then picked up the pressing iron, and Zhan Xi said: “What Teacher Luo is showing now is the pressing iron, which is the most important tool for making hot-pressed flowers. There are various specifications — lily of the valley uses the lily iron, and leaves use the blade iron which can press out leaf veins.”
Luo Jingyu pointed to the shared paints in front, and Zhan Xi said: “The materials and tools are actually very simple. Now let’s start today’s class. Teacher Luo has prepared the flower and leaf patterns for you both. We’ll begin with the first step — mixing colors and dyeing. Teacher Luo will first use young grass green…”
Luo Xinran’s eyes stayed fixed on Luo Jingyu’s movements while Zhan Xi’s clear voice rang in her ears. Luo Jingyu was very composed, handling everything methodically. As he mixed colors, showing how much of each color to pour and how much water to add, Zhan Xi would explain everything clearly, never letting anyone feel overwhelmed.
Pipi Xia originally thought he wouldn’t be able to handle it, but found that Luo Jingyu broke down each step very carefully. He also watched their operations closely, calling for a pause with hand gestures if anything went wrong, then using sign language to tell Zhan Xi, who would explain the points to note to them, allowing problems to be corrected immediately.
Pipi Xia secretly watched Luo Xinran’s movements, like observing how a classmate was doing. Luo Xinran had already picked up the brush, so Pipi Xia, not wanting to fall behind, also picked up his brush and started coloring the petals in imitation.
If any petals were dyed badly, Luo Jingyu had prepared spares, allowing one chance to re-dye.
In the summer heat, the dyed fabric only needed about twenty minutes to dry. Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu had discussed this — they couldn’t let customers wander off during this time, so they could talk about the development of hot-pressed flowers, different schools, and applications in daily life, or even just chat and answer questions.
Zhan Xi had memorized these introductions for many days, trying to make them lively and interesting. Meanwhile, Luo Jingyu wouldn’t be idle either, demonstrating pressing techniques with some semi-finished products.
If this were a documentary, Luo Jingyu would be the visuals, and Zhan Xi the voiceover.
When it came time to use the pressing iron, Zhan Xi was slightly nervous, repeatedly confirming safety procedures with the two.
Lily of the valley is a very basic flower pattern. Luo Jingyu still worked slowly and carefully, making sure both experience participants could see all his movements clearly. Zhan Xi explained all the pressing techniques verbally. Pipi Xia watched very intently, occasionally exclaiming “Holy crap!” “Ah, you can even press out veins?” “This is too hard! I definitely can’t do it!” and various other comments.
Zhan Xi comforted him: “It’s not hard, you’ll know once you try. Just be patient.”
Pipi Xia helplessly picked up the pressing iron, clumsily pressing while grumbling.
He kept his head down, so Luo Jingyu couldn’t see his lip movements, focusing only on his and Luo Xinran’s operations. Zhan Xi kept gently encouraging Pipi Xia, until Luo Xinran couldn’t take it anymore and called out: “Pipi Xia, can you shut up? Can you act like a man? You’re so annoying!”
Pipi Xia fell silent, not understanding how being bad at handicrafts made him less of a man. If anything, men like Luo Jingyu were the unusual ones!
You couldn’t say he was feminine either — the way he used small tweezers to hold such tiny petals, his right hand wielding the pressing iron over the petals, was actually quite cool!
Pipi Xia relaxed and calmed down, following Luo Jingyu’s rhythm, and managed to press out all the flowers and leaves, albeit with some difficulty.
Finally came assembly, which was a challenge for Pipi Xia because it involved using glue.
It was really hard for someone with poor manual dexterity! Zhan Xi stood beside Pipi Xia, patiently telling him how to glue, and helping directly with parts he really couldn’t manage.
Pipi Xia looked at Luo Jingyu’s nimble fingers and felt like his own two hands were fake.
With Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu’s seamless cooperation, in less than two hours, both complete beginners Luo Xinran and Pipi Xia had made their strings of lily of the valley, with surprisingly decent quality.
“Hahaha! I must post this on WeChat!” Pipi Xia completely shed his previous dejection, now extremely proud. He took many photos of his lily of the valley from various angles and posted them to his Moments, including a photo of Luo Jingyu working with his head down.
His bangs hung down hiding his eyebrows and eyes, showing only the lower half of his face — his tall straight nose, beautiful lips, and thin fair cheeks. Pipi Xia’s caption read:
[My first ever hot-pressed flower work! All handmade! Hahaha, tell me isn’t it awesome!]
Comments and likes quickly appeared below, some praising, some teasing, some joking, some asking where it was made, and most asking who the handsome guy in the photo was.
Pipi Xia replied uniformly:
[July 17-19, Convention Center Qiantang Maker Festival, Handcraft Market Section Booth 67, please follow: Xiyu Hot-pressed Flower Art! Welcome to learn handcraft hot-pressed flowers from Teacher Luo in person!
PS: Teacher Luo could totally make a living with his looks, but he insists on using his talent! I can only sadly tell everyone that this person is taken, don’t get any ideas!]
That evening, Luo Jingyu cooked a table full of dishes to thank Luo Xinran and Pipi Xia. Among them, the garlic vermicelli king crab was incredibly delicious. Luo Xinran had never seen anyone cook king crab so well at home before.
If her previous impression of Luo Jingyu was just “good-tempered,” now after one experience class and eating his feast, Luo Xinran was thoroughly impressed by him.
She looked at Luo Jingyu patiently helping Zhan Xi crack crab legs across the table, then turned to look at her own boyfriend who was buried in eating, and let out a long sigh.
They’re both men, how could they be so different?
—
Two days before the Maker Festival opened, Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi entered to set up their booth as required.
They didn’t ask anyone else to help — it was just a 3-square-meter booth, and Zhan Xi believed that with Little Fish’s manual skills, the two of them could handle it.
Because they registered so late, booth 67’s location was ordinary, near the end of a corridor in a corner. Zhan Xi consoled herself that fewer people might actually be better for the experience classes.
She and Luo Jingyu worked together to install various materials, even huffing and puffing as they carried a screen into the venue. Luo Jingyu worried Zhan Xi would get too tired and kept trying to make her rest, but she refused, saying she wasn’t that delicate and didn’t mind the hard work.
Surrounding booths were also being set up, and some people noticed that Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu communicated through sign language, which surprised them somewhat.
A short-haired girl stood watching their booth for a while, then curiously asked Zhan Xi: “What do you do?”
“Hot-pressed flowers,” Zhan Xi, with her ponytail, wiped sweat from her forehead and smiled in response. “It’s a pure handcraft flower-making technique. Look, that lotus flower was made using hot-pressed flowers.”
She pointed to a lotus flower arrangement that Luo Jingyu was adjusting the position of, which included lotus root and leaves. The short-haired girl exclaimed: “Wow! It’s so beautiful! Looks just like real ones.”
She asked Zhan Xi again, “Did you make all these?”
Zhan Xi giggled: “No, my boyfriend made them.” She pointed to Luo Jingyu, her eyes full of pride. “All the flowers you see were made by him, pure handcraft, pressed petal by petal!”
The short-haired girl was even more surprised: “Wow! Your boyfriend is so talented! I do embroidery, and almost everyone in our field is female.”
The two agreed to visit each other’s booths after the exhibition opened. Before leaving, the short-haired girl hesitantly asked Zhan Xi: “Your boyfriend… he can’t hear?”
“Yes, he can’t hear.” Zhan Xi’s gaze turned to Luo Jingyu, who was still busy, his gray T-shirt already wet with sweat in front. Zhan Xi smiled, “But he’s really amazing, you’ll see when we open.”
Luo Jingyu would occasionally glance at Zhan Xi. She had already entered work mode, as people would occasionally come by asking what their booth was about.
Those were all craftspeople from various fields. Some industries even Luo Jingyu didn’t quite understand, but Zhan Xi chatted enthusiastically with them, inviting them to follow their Weibo and public account.
The QR code, designed by Luo Jingyu in a floral pattern and printed large, hung at the edge of the booth, blending with the overall style.
Luo Jingyu belatedly realized that without Huanhuan’s help, would he be working here alone now? Though Sister Shao and others said they’d come support him, they couldn’t help with setup. Besides, they were coming to visit the Maker Festival, so they’d mostly be wandering around playing. The person staying at the booth for long periods would just be him alone.
A person who couldn’t hear sounds or speak, sitting lonely in a packed exhibition hall, watching his small booth — just thinking about it, Luo Jingyu knew it would definitely be incredibly difficult.
He wondered how his past self had the confidence to face all this alone. What Wang Xu said wasn’t wrong — without language assistance, his display would indeed become meaningless.
Fortunately, now he had Huanhuan.
For the first time, Luo Jingyu experienced the feeling of having someone fighting alongside him.
They didn’t try to overpower each other, didn’t try to control each other, didn’t try to tell each other what to do. He and Zhan Xi could truly trust each other to watch their backs, each just needing to handle their own responsibilities.
As the first day of setup was ending, in the evening, Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu finished their work for the day. Seeing they still had time, instead of rushing to eat, they joined other craftspeople in exploring the venue hand in hand, seeing what other booths were doing.
The Handcraft Market section had booths of various sizes, with varying numbers of people setting up. As they walked around, Luo Jingyu felt grateful again that he had followed Huanhuan’s advice and formally designed the booth theme. According to his original plan of just a table and chair with him sitting there, it would definitely have been the most shabby booth in the venue, just as Zhan Xi said, comparable to an old candy craftsman.
At other booths, there were people doing woodwork, ACCA aromatherapy, vegetable-tanned leather, pottery, resin accessories, flower arranging, baking, fondant cakes, diamond painting, oil painting, patchwork, sewing, French embroidery, knitting, traditional papermaking, mortise and tenon, wood carving.
It was a dazzling array of diverse crafts. Zhan Xi felt her eyes weren’t enough to take it all in.
With so many handcraft projects, each had its own admirers, experts, and people who had devoted years to making a living from it. In today’s fast-paced, high-tech, and rapidly changing world, there were still people who could endure solitude, focusing only on their craft, striving for expertise and excellence. Even if their field was unpopular, they wouldn’t give up. When talking to Zhan Xi about their passions, their eyes all sparkled with light.
On the main aisle, Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi saw a booth that made them both stop in their tracks, staring with wide eyes in shock.
This booth wasn’t small — it was three times the size of Luo Jingyu’s booth. Though only half-decorated, its style was already clearly visible.
Standing in front of the booth, Zhan Xi felt like Alice who had fallen down the rabbit hole, because everywhere she looked were extravagant, brilliant, luxurious, and bold flowers!
Most were clusters of blooming roses in every color imaginable, creating an incredibly eye-catching visual impact.
Almost everyone passing by this booth would exclaim: “Wow! These flowers are so beautiful!”
Hearing such praise, the booth owner would turn around and smile slightly.
Her smile was as enchanting and beautiful as the flowers in her booth. Zhan Xi watched her from afar, and suddenly, the person’s gaze met hers, openly matching Zhan Xi’s line of sight.
She was a young and beautiful girl with high pigtails, wearing a somewhat vintage-style black dress. Her features were unfamiliar — Zhan Xi had never seen her before.
Her gaze was strange, not hostile or confrontational, but more like… a show of force?
Zhan Xi suddenly realized that this girl wasn’t targeting her — she was actually targeting Little Fish!
At this moment, Luo Jingyu tugged at Zhan Xi’s hand, and they left together.
The girl stood in place, watching their gradually retreating figures.
Only after walking until they could no longer see that booth did Zhan Xi turn to look at Luo Jingyu, finding his expression didn’t look good.
Zhan Xi signed to him: [Little Fish, was that hot-pressed flowers?]
[Yes.] Luo Jingyu signed back, [It was hot-pressed flowers.]
Zhan Xi thought for a moment and signed: [It’s quite different from what you make.]
Luo Jingyu looked at her confused expression and asked: [Did you think it was beautiful? Tell the truth.]
Zhan Xi nodded slightly.
It really was beautiful — how could anyone say it wasn’t? Even half-decorated, it was already so visually stunning. When fully set up, one could imagine it would be a fairy tale world of flowers. That atmosphere could be described with every magnificent word possible.
Luo Jingyu smiled and nodded, signing: [I also think it’s beautiful, but I don’t like it.]
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